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Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Talks End
Last minute talks to unify the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats have failed. Matsushita, owner of the Panasonic brand, has stated 'the market will decide the winner.' From the article: "The two sides held talks last year in the hopes of avoiding a prolonged format battle similar to the one between Betamax and VHS videotapes in the 1980s, knowing that it could discourage consumers from shifting to the advanced discs and stifle the industry's growth. But the talks soon fizzled out, with each side reluctant to establish a format based on the other's disc structure. At stake is the $24 billion home video market and a slice of the personal computer market as PCs will be equipped with Blu-ray or HD DVD optical drives."
Unless the manufacturers sign a deal which states otherwise, there will be dual format players with 18 months of Blu-rays debut. After that it simply won't matter what format your media comes on letting media houses pick the disc that suits their economics, with one exception, the PS3 which will still only play Blu-ray, which lets face it, is better than either the 360 or the Revolution.
Unlike Betamax verses VHS, both HD-DVD and Blu-ray are essentially the same form factor and technology. The initial concerns about Blu-rays new process being expensive will be blown out of the water by PS3 media sales, increased capacity and no pesky legal copying, which will interest film houses, HD-DVD has friendlier copyright and already has fabs producing cheap media. We could see a genuine 50/50 split in the market, healthy competition and low prices for consumers!
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
They're both larger-capacity discs than DVD. Blu-Ray just happens to have a higher capacity.
The capacity of Blu-ray is 25GB per layer, whereas HD-DVD is 15 (or 20GB?) per layer.
Hands in my pocket
I think thats a horrible point. Not many kids are going to ask mommy and daddy for a HD-DVD player because its cheaper than a PS3 for their BDay or Xmas or whatever. I know ppl love to hate sony, but they shouldnt underestimate the PS3s ability to saturate the market with blu-ray. Why should any of us who are going to get PS3s bother with HD-DVD? Thats why im personally holding out, not because i think one is better than the other, but because I'm going to get a PS3 anyway.
Microsoft with HD-DVD is really pushing the DVD menu language they have created, kind of like Javascript.
Blu-Ray is going with Java.
I have to wonder if part of the dealbreaker was Microsoft insisting that use of thier own spec was mandatory for any merger of the formats.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley